


(no) air

by misura



Category: Total Recall (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Caring for someone who should be your enemy, F/M, trapped in an isolated place together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24146275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: The invasion of the Resistance's HQ goes a bit different, leaving Doug, Hauser and Lori trapped in a building in the No Zone together.
Relationships: Douglas Quaid | Carl Hauser/Lori
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: Hurt Comfort Exchange 2020





	(no) air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hecate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hecate/gifts).



Things went bad _fast_ \- Doug was still reeling, but Hauser (so what, was he two people now?) had already taken out the two, three guards that had been holding Matthias, who did the sensible thing and ran.

Doug figured running sounded pretty good ( _fuck_ Cohaagen and his fucking mind games) but Hauser seemed to have a different idea, running after one of Cohaagen's guards who was either chasing someone or who'd had the same smart idea as everyone else. Doug didn't know exactly what had happened, but there'd been a number of explosions already, and it didn't take the best intelligence officer ever to figure out that was bad news anywhere, but especially in the No Zone.

So. Hauser ran for a bit, with Doug still scrambling to make sense of anything (a _double_ agent?) and then Hauser stopped and looked up at the ceiling and yeah, that did not look good, even Doug could tell that much.

Hauser finally got with the plan, then, changing directions and heading for the nearest exit, only without stopping for a gas mask or anything, which didn't seem smart.

Sticking around didn't seem like a great idea either, though, which meant Doug figured he'd let Hauser do his thing and hope it worked.

It (almost) kind of did, right until the building fell down on him.

Hauser being Hauser (and Doug), he still made it out alive. Doug didn't know where they'd ended up exactly - 'somewhere in the No Zone' seemed a safe bet, but that covered a whole lot of ground, none of it good.

It took him a bit longer to realize they weren't alone, that Hauser _had_ been chasing someone.

"Fuck." She looked near death, but Doug knew he couldn't be that lucky. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be: those seven years might be fake, sure, but they'd been a pretty damn _good_ seven years.

"Not tonight, baby, I've got a headache."

Well. At least she was still able to talk. Hauser could think of several ways to tie her up and gag her and wait for further inspiration (not a lot of places to go, without a gas mask, and _why_ had neither of them thought to grab one? All of Cohaagen's goons had had them. It would've taken only a moment - less than that, with Hauser's speed and reflexes.)

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now," Hauser said.

Doug thought of Cohaagen and his conviction that Hauser would be his loyal servant the moment Cohaagen restored his memories.

Lori grinned at him. It was partially a grimace. "I know the location of a stash of gas masks," she said.

"Good for you," Hauser said. "Pretty sure I know how to make you share that information."

She laughed a little. Doug didn't like the sound of her breathing. "You can try. Go on, baby. Give it your best shot. I dare you."

Doug wondered if she'd always been like this: a little wild and a lot reckless and not afraid of anything or anyone. He wondered how he could've missed seeing it, seeing _her_ , during seven years of marriage.

Hauser just wondered what his chances were of getting the location out of her before she died.

Doug decided that wasn't a thing he wanted to think about, really, fuck Hauser and fuck Cohaagen and fuck Matthias, too, while they were at it.

(All right, maybe not Matthias. He'd seemed an okay guy to Doug, even if his words of wisdom had sounded a bit iffy at the time.)

Hauser inspected their building. It seemed safe. Hauser also tried to figure out where the stash of gas masks was, but that didn't turn out so well.

On the plus side, it seemed to give Hauser a vested interest in keeping Lori alive, which he did. Doug wouldn't have even known where to begin, but Hauser hunted down some bits and bobs, and voilá, improvised bandaging and a couple of other things.

"Sure you don't want to try and kiss it better, babe?" Lori asked.

Hauser was sure, right until the moment he wasn't, because Doug did want. He knew it was stupid, and he knew that she'd probably try to kill him as soon as he came close enough with less than pure intentions, but she was his _wife_ , damn it. Or, fine, not his wife.

 _We're separated,_ he'd told Melina. He hadn't specified by what, though the list seemed to be growing. Murder attempts should probably be somewhere near the top of the list, and yet.

"Sure _you_ don't want me to try and kiss it better?" Hauser said, adding, "Baby," like it was an afterthought.

Doug wondered if this was how really dangerous people flirted, or if Hauser was just an idiot.

"Try me," Lori said, less invitation than challenge. Still partially an invitation, though.

Hauser laughed and walked away, probably the smartest thing he'd done all day.

Barely two days later (where did time go? and what had Cohaagen been doing during that time? did Doug even care anymore? did Lori?) and Lori was up and about - not smoothly, not gracefully, but she was mobile.

Hauser thought this was going to be trouble. Doug didn't disagree, much, though mostly he watched Lori and felt ... something. They'd had something good, he thought. They'd had each other (except that they hadn't).

"How about we go get that stash now and we make a deal to work together until we're out of here?" Hauser said. Doug wasn't sure if he meant it.

Lori looked like she was sure he didn't. "Do I look that stupid to you?"

 _You look like the most beautiful, desirable woman alive,_ Doug thought. He didn't know how much of that showed on Hauser's face. Some of it, he thought. Lori's expression shifted a bit, to something almost soft, and definitely fake.

"You could still come out on the right side of this, you know," Lori said. "Cohaagen seems to want you back pretty badly."

 _Not as badly as I want you back. Want us back. Our life,_ Doug thought. Hauser said nothing, did nothing.

"C'mon. Nothing?" Lori prodded, like he was the injured party and she the one holding him captive and alive.

"Cohaagen's got nothing I'm interested in," Hauser said.

"Cohaagen's got your memories. Your real self," Lori said. "I'd say that's something."

"My past," Hauser said. "I don't need it."

"How about your life?" Lori asked.

Hauser chuckled a bit at that one. Lori looked annoyed for a moment, a flicker of the light, but then she smiled, a little rueful and a bit like someone who knew they'd get caught, but felt that they'd had to give it a try anyway.

"So what's Cohaagen got that _you_ want?" Hauser asked.

Lori eyed him like she was considering taking him on. Given her current condition, she'd lose. "The usual. Money. Power. Prestige."

Hauser scoffed. "That's it? A woman like you could do better."

"Better than working for the most powerful man alive. Really," Lori said. "And what's that supposed to mean: a woman like me?"

Doug realized that he and Hauser were in agreement for once. He didn't know if that should worry him, or if he should be relieved they were finally on the same page re: Lori.

"You know what I mean," Hauser said.

Lori's smile was slow and sweet and sensual. Doug remembered that smile, and the sex that had always come after.

Hauser smiled back in a way Doug had never quite managed, and then they were on each other, touching, kissing like she wanted to devour him alive, which maybe should have been a warning sign, but Hauser chose to ignore it, ignore pretty much everything that didn't get him closer to what he wanted, needed.

She tripped him before they made it to the improvised bed, landing them on the floor. (Well. Hauser landed on the floor. Lori ended up on top, until Hauser flipped their positions and followed it up with more kissing to keep her down, to keep her right where she was, where she belonged.)

Of course, the floor wasn't exactly comfortable; Lori made a soft sound of pain as she bumped into something, and Hauser backed off a bit, letting her work out how to get comfortable.

"Are you ever going to tell me where that stash is?" he asked.

Lori snorted. Doug knew, then, before Hauser did. "Oh please. You think that if there was one, I'd still be here?"


End file.
